ElementalPoles

Of the Elemental Poles and the Five Faerie Castes

An Excerpt from the Book of Shou Ren

1. In the aftermath of the Primordial War, Creation faced a new threat. Where once the works and forms of the Primordials formed an impenetrable barrier against the Wyld, there was now only Gaia, and She could not bar all of Her doors against the chaos.
2. Faeries without number poured into Creation through the Wyld gates, and for a time, the Exalted were locked in mortal struggle once more. For, while the faeries lacked the power of the Primordials, they were without number and marched onward without end.
3. The Exalted looked to the celestial gods for succor, but it happened that they were now bound to the Games of Divinity, as were the Primordials before them. No aid would come from that quarter.
4. But the Elemental Dragons still walked the face of Creation.
5. At Gaia’s behest, the Elemental Dragons lay hold upon Her doors and Her gates, and drew them along the walls of Creation to the five cardinal points. There the doors and gates became one, leaving but five true portals into Creation from the Wyld.
6. And at each cardinal point, a Dragon built a nest from its element and set itself as a guardian against the faerie host.
7. We know the nests of the Dragons as the Elemental Poles, and they remain until this day.
8. The Elemental Dragons no longer walk the face of Creation, for they must ever guard the gates. At every moment, ten thousand thousand faeries press against the gates, seeking entrance to Creation.
9. Those faeries that pass the Dragons are marked evermore by the power of the Pole they have passed. So it is that every faerie in Creation bears the attributes of an Element, for no faerie comes into creation save by the gates.